Paid Memberships Pro v3.5+ added Action Scheduler support to run regular PMPro background tasks and breaks down bigger tasks into smaller ones. Action Scheduler improves site performance and ensures total completion of tasks that may have formerly timed out or failed when processed via WP-Cron.

About PMPro and Action Scheduler

Action Scheduler is now running all of the core PMPro background tasks, and is being implemented across our Add Ons that also rely on a scheduled process. Our implementation is designed to break down resource intensive tasks into smaller tasks, improving performance on lower tier hosting and giving these tasks a more reliable and tracked completion status.

At this time, PMPro is leveraging Action Scheduler to handle:

And maintenance routines like:

  • Disabling memberships referencing non-existent levels
  • Database cleanup of duplicate data
  • Cleanup of temporary files

Accessing the Scheduled Actions Screen

Navigate to Tools > Scheduled Actions in the WordPress Admin. The “Scheduled Actions” screen displays a list of all the background actions on your site.

The table offers several viewing options, such as:

  • All: View every action, regardless of status.
  • Completed: See actions that have successfully finished.
  • Failed: Identify actions that failed and may need attention.
  • Pending: Check actions waiting to run.

Within the Scheduled Actions Table, information about the action can be reviewed. This information includes:

  • Hook: The trigger name (e.g., pmpro_schedule_quarter_hourly).
  • Status: Complete, Pending, or Failed.
  • Arguments: Additional data passed to the action.
  • Group: The category, often pmpro_recurring_tasks.
  • Recurrence: How often it runs (e.g., every 15 minutes).
  • Log: Timestamped steps (created, started, completed, or errors).
Screenshots of the Scheduled Action table in WordPress Tools

Note: If you do not see the “Scheduled Actions” menu item under Tools, there is most likely another plugin that intentionally hides the screen. Refer to the Troubleshooting Issues with Action Scheduler section for next steps.

Available Schedules in PMPro

The following hooks are scheduled via Action Scheduler, using the pmpro_recurring_tasks group:

  • pmpro_schedule_quarter_hourly: Runs every 15 minutes.
  • pmpro_schedule_hourly: Runs every hour.
  • pmpro_schedule_daily: Runs daily at 10:30am.
  • pmpro_schedule_weekly: Runs every Sunday at 8:00am.
  • pmpro_trigger_monthly: Runs on the first day of each month at 8:00am.

Troubleshooting Issues with Action Scheduler

Here’s what you should do if you notice issues with Action Scheduler, such as the menu item not available within the Tools section, or your logs filling up for unknown reasons.

  • Check your Site Health. Paid Memberships Pro does not load the bundled version of Action Scheduler if another plugin already loads it. You can see if another plugin’s version of Action Scheduler is being loaded within the Paid Memberships Pro section of Site Health. This information will help you understand the plugin may be involved in your issue.
  • Check your database. Or ask your host to. There are rare cases where the tables that Action Scheduler relies on may become corrupt. A clear indicator of this is that the logs are filling up with loads of failed events. To resolve this, you need to drop the custom tables that Action Scheduler uses and rely on your plugins to recreate them when needed. The tables that may be affected are:
    • {wp}_actionscheduler_actions
    • {wp}_actionscheduler_logs
    • {wp}_actionscheduler_claims
    • {wp}_actionscheduler_groups

If you are still experiencing issues, please reach out to the support team at Paid Memberships Pro.

Action and Filter Hooks

The following action and filter hooks are offered for developers that need to make adjustments to the PMPro Action Scheduler default logic.

Last updated on July 30, 2025


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